Every little bit

Here we are at the beginning of November. Halloween has come and gone with a touch of Indian summer. The early morning temperature was below freezing as I made my way into the office for the daylight savings change over. Earlier in the day I had been down to the rink, come back home and changed out a microwave oven mounted in our kitchen, and now my knee and back were starting to feel a bit soar from too many “superman” drills. I probably should have avoided any more of those during tonight’s hockey practice, but as long as I can still lace up my own skates I’ll do whatever it takes to motivate the team on the ice even if I do need a few aspirins when I get up the next day. On the ice I still feel like a kid, but off the ice I am constantly reminded that time marches on. When the season is over I’ll take it a little easier, but during hockey season it takes a lot more than a few aches and pains to knock me down. The team is not only a good group of hockey players, but also a good bunch of kids. Even when we introduce a few new concepts and ideas at each practice, the players show interest and put in the effort to build upon each part of the their game. Since each practice is focused on building the skill level and working on different parts of the game from the ground up we have been able to work towards putting most of the pieces together. The speed is becoming noticeable, as is the team’s ability to communicate and think in the moment. This not only adds to the speed, but also to playing smart hockey. We are trying to encourage thinking on your feet with a little more creativity that allows the players to make faster decisions on the ice and play together more focused as a team rather than only relying on a few key players. For five on five all players must be on the same page to work quickly and efficiently together. Having a script to follow is not as effective as having the tools and skills needed to address any situation that comes up during the game. We work out a lot of different situations that will arise during a game at our practices, but the main idea is that the players must be able to think one or two steps ahead of the play and play more proactive than reactive to situations. Without some basic knowledge of the game and good skill sets this isn’t very effective, therefore we must continue to focus on skills and throw in more small game situations. Scrimmages still have their own benefits, but too many cut into time that could be better spent working on improving key parts of our game and each player’s skill sets. I was surprised to find out that not many players work on stick handling off the ice. That does need to change. As we have found out over the years with lacrosse, stick handling away from regular practice will improve a player’s control of the puck. In other words, the more you work on stick handling, the better your puck control will be. At this age, getting a good nights sleep and eating healthy also will impact how well you do on the ice. These all seem like minor things, but every little positive thing you do will add to your game. Sometimes during a game there are very slim margins between controlling the puck, and losing the puck. The difference could be chance, or it could boil down to something you did or didn’t do in preparation at practice or on your own.